Premium power

Fuel Processing Technology for Premium Power Fuel Cell Systems," J.C. Cross et al., Epyx/ADL, Pg. 749, Fuel Cell Seminar Abstracts, Courtesy Associates, Inc., November... 

Table 1 United States premium power-grid electrical markets (DOE, 2007b)...

The digital power or premium power market is much smaller and is growing much more slowly than has been widely touted. 

A significant number of companies that need premium power have a system that works well for them (or at least they think it does) and won t pay much more to obtain a new system or replace an existing system. 

Premium Power Corp. (2011) Premium Power - Zinc-Flow(R) Technology. In Zinc-Flow(R) Technology, http //www.premiumpower.com... 

OfF-Grid Power Supply and Premium Power Generation... 

This chapter looks at the provision of premium power to two key future market sectors the off-grid market and the portable market. 

We define premium power as power that is modular, distributed, and high quality. In other words, these are systems for producing, storing, and delivering power for applications without a central generating station. 

If we break this dataset down into off-grid and portable premium power apphcations, however, we would see that, at present, this makes up less than 10% of all shipments. The reason for this is twofold ... 

I 37 Off-Crid Power Supply and Premium Power Generation 20000 --------------------------- -----------------------------... 

The market pull for premium power to date has come from countries with less access to a widespread grid. These include the African nations, India, and many Latin American countries. As these countries cannot afford to be first adopters of very high-cost technology, there is a market-induced lag between the pull and push of the technology. 

Owing to the increasing market for premium power in key adopter groups in the Global North, although stiU very hmited when compared with developing countries, we are likely to see initial roU-out in the next 5 year time frame there and then a trickle-down effect into Africa, India, and Latin America when costs come down with mass manufacturing and component standardization. 

The remainder of this chapter looks at the two specific markets of off-grid and premium power for portable applications. 

The market for premium power applications for fuel-cell technology is massive. It covers a broad range of applications, globally, and is being created by consumer... 

FIGURE 10.180 A premium power-supply backup and condition ing system using dual utility company feeds, a diesel generator, and a motor-generator set. An arrangement such as this would be used for critical loads that require a steady supply of clean AC. 

The zinc-bromide system is commercialized by ZBB Energy (Australia, www.zbbenergy.com/). Premium Power (USA, www.premiumpower.com) and RedFlow (redflow.com/). 

Additionally, it is yet uncertain if the MCFC systems will be cost competitive with other technologies. This issue ultimately relegated PAFCs to the premium power niche. The MCFC is poised to become the second major commercially available fuel cell system, after PAFCs discussed in the following section. Certainly, hundreds of kilowatts- and megawatts-sized units will be in operation in the coming years from several manufacturers. A MCFC plant is quiet with low emissions and the potential to reach 50% electrical conversion efficiency and over 80% overall combined efficiency. Whether or not truly deep market penetration into tens of thousands of units will occur will come down to the cost, durability, and convenience comparisons with other technologies. 

The PAFC was the next system to be seriously developed following the AFC and is the first mass-produced fuel cell system to reach the consumer market in premium power applications. Through several generations of design, stationary 200-kWe PAFC systems showed reliable (>95%) service and high combined efficiency (>80%). Ultimately, the total system cost has limited development of this technology. 

PEM fuel cells must be able to run continually or continuously as generators of premium power for base, backup, and peak-shaving loads in cooperation with the electric grid. 

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